Sheffield law firm slammed over Alton Towers tweet

Video grab taken from Sky News of emergency services attending the scene after an Alton Towers rollercoaster carriage carrying 16 people crashed into an empty carriage.

Published:09:19Updated:12:00Wednesday 03 June 2015

Share this article

A SHEFFIELD law firm has been forced to apologise after posting a tweet apparently soliciting business from victims of the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash.

A storm of protest from other Twitter users followed the message yesterday afternoon, while the effort to rescue four seriously injured teenagers and 12 others from the Smiler ride was still in progress.

Twitter user Kieran Jones responded: “Not sure which is worse, how disrespectful @Broad_Yorkshire are or how embarrassing their promotion of compensation culture in the UK is!”

Dan Roach added: “What you tweeted was a disgrace. Someone lost a leg in that accident. If that was your son/daughter? Should be ashamed.”

Broad Yorkshire, which advertises itself as specialists in personal injury and family law, says it operates as a “virtual service” with “no walls or boundaries”.

The scene at Alton Towers as four teenagers suffered serious leg injuries in a collision between two carriages on the amusement park's Smiler rollercoaster.

An hour after its original tweet - which has since been deleted - the firm apologised by tweeting: “Please accept our sincere apologies for any offence caused, none was intended and our best wishes go out to those who were stranded.”

But Twitter user Roxy responded: “@Broad_Yorkshire no offence was intended?! People have been seriously hurt! You should be closed down! That was a disgusting tweet to post!”